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Hey! I've been holding back to answer because I honestly know nothing. My husband and I own Books & Mortar and we did have a pop-up going in there during the holidays but we ultimately decided to pull out at the end of the year. We actually were pretty profitable BUT there are some steep challenges there and so we decided to get out while we were still making money off of it and focus on other growth opportunities. I have reached out to a couple people who will have an answer and get back soon!

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Hey! I've been holding back to answer because I honestly know nothing. My husband and I own Books & Mortar and we did have a pop-up going in there during the holidays but we ultimately decided to pull out at the end of the year. We actually were pretty profitable BUT there are some steep challenges there and so we decided to get out while we were still making money off of it and focus on other growth opportunities. I have reached out to a couple people who will have an answer and get back soon!

I'm glad that your pop-up worked out for you guys. It was super cute.

Thanks for looking out for your nosy Urban Planet friends.

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Hey! I've been holding back to answer because I honestly know nothing. My husband and I own Books & Mortar and we did have a pop-up going in there during the holidays but we ultimately decided to pull out at the end of the year. We actually were pretty profitable BUT there are some steep challenges there and so we decided to get out while we were still making money off of it and focus on other growth opportunities. I have reached out to a couple people who will have an answer and get back soon!

On a complete side note I love Books & Mortar! I am in there a few times a month.

Back to the topic now, does Bridge St get enough pedestrian traffic during the day to support a coffee shop?

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I'm thinking it has to be something other than the actual selling of coffee? Did someone offer them, or the landlord, huge money for the space? Did the owner buy out their lease?

I mean, they just opened! And they are almost assured tons of business in the near future with all the development . I haven't heard anything about them being empty either. But if that location is done, then it is a spectacular collapse after such a promising start.

I was going to speculate the same. They have always been busy when I've stopped to get coffee.

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So...I don't know the details yet though they are slowly coming in...but what I have heard from a few people connected to that location is that they are not reopening and that they were over-extended there. I can not provide any more than speculation but I will keep you updated as I find out more. I did notice that they have "deleted" Bridge Street from their website and social media so that doesn't bode well.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about all of this. As I said before, we actually made some decent money BUT we were the only spot over there where office workers could pop-in for a gift on their way home or to an office event. I believe we could have really done well there if we stayed HOWEVER...in the time we were there (October - December) it become clearer and clearer that retail was not going to be a big part of the fabric of Bridge. The Conscious Collective was becoming more Sovengard, the Red Lion lot was becoming another brewery concept and bar, and Black Heron was turning to Jolly Pumpkin. I am not at all "dissing" these projects but it was self-evident that Bridge will be a robust entertainment district but no place for retail. I even had conversations with the owner of Denym about their awareness that it wasn't going to become quite the walkable neighborhood that they had hoped for.

I'm an enigma in this conversation because I own a retail business that thrives on other retail businesses being nearby and yet I see the future and it doesn't include traditional brick-and-mortar like we might want it to. We are lucky that our store is "hot" and we can cover our HIGH rent, but the reality is it is EXTREMELY expensive to run a brick-and-mortar space on tight margins and the broadest part of our customer base is aging. We have a ton of support from millennials but they have MUCH different spending patterns and brick-and-mortar cutesy-fun-shops can't expect to live off of them going forward. It will be so interesting to see how walkable neighborhoods continue to shift towards a heavy presence of food and beverage. I'm not saying brick-and-mortar won't always have a place, but it will become more and more nuanced as rent continues to rise and profitability shrinks.

Also - I've been told that a national chain restaurant (think fast food) might be opening over here haha.

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So...I don't know the details yet though they are slowly coming in...but what I have heard from a few people connected to that location is that they are not reopening and that they were over-extended there. I can not provide any more than speculation but I will keep you updated as I find out more. I did notice that they have "deleted" Bridge Street from their website and social media so that doesn't bode well.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about all of this. As I said before, we actually made some decent money BUT we were the only spot over there where office workers could pop-in for a gift on their way home or to an office event. I believe we could have really done well there if we stayed HOWEVER...in the time we were there (October - December) it become clearer and clearer that retail was not going to be a big part of the fabric of Bridge. The Conscious Collective was becoming more Sovengard, the Red Lion lot was becoming another brewery concept and bar, and Black Heron was turning to Jolly Pumpkin. I am not at all "dissing" these projects but it was self-evident that Bridge will be a robust entertainment district but no place for retail. I even had conversations with the owner of Denym about their awareness that it wasn't going to become quite the walkable neighborhood that they had hoped for.

I'm an enigma in this conversation because I own a retail business that thrives on other retail businesses being nearby and yet I see the future and it doesn't include traditional brick-and-mortar like we might want it to. We are lucky that our store is "hot" and we can cover our HIGH rent, but the reality is it is EXTREMELY expensive to run a brick-and-mortar space on tight margins and the broadest part of our customer base is aging. We have a ton of support from millennials but they have MUCH different spending patterns and brick-and-mortar cutesy-fun-shops can't expect to live off of them going forward. It will be so interesting to see how walkable neighborhoods continue to shift towards a heavy presence of food and beverage. I'm not saying brick-and-mortar won't always have a place, but it will become more and more nuanced as rent continues to rise and profitability shrinks.

Also - I've been told that a national chain restaurant (think fast food) might be opening over here haha.

Chik-Fil-A?

I spoke to the Sparrows owner, not reopening. They sound sad about it but it was better for the overall health of their enterprise to concentrate on Wealthy which is extremely successful.

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So...I don't know the details yet though they are slowly coming in...but what I have heard from a few people connected to that location is that they are not reopening and that they were over-extended there. I can not provide any more than speculation but I will keep you updated as I find out more. I did notice that they have "deleted" Bridge Street from their website and social media so that doesn't bode well.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about all of this. As I said before, we actually made some decent money BUT we were the only spot over there where office workers could pop-in for a gift on their way home or to an office event. I believe we could have really done well there if we stayed HOWEVER...in the time we were there (October - December) it become clearer and clearer that retail was not going to be a big part of the fabric of Bridge. The Conscious Collective was becoming more Sovengard, the Red Lion lot was becoming another brewery concept and bar, and Black Heron was turning to Jolly Pumpkin. I am not at all "dissing" these projects but it was self-evident that Bridge will be a robust entertainment district but no place for retail. I even had conversations with the owner of Denym about their awareness that it wasn't going to become quite the walkable neighborhood that they had hoped for.

I'm an enigma in this conversation because I own a retail business that thrives on other retail businesses being nearby and yet I see the future and it doesn't include traditional brick-and-mortar like we might want it to. We are lucky that our store is "hot" and we can cover our HIGH rent, but the reality is it is EXTREMELY expensive to run a brick-and-mortar space on tight margins and the broadest part of our customer base is aging. We have a ton of support from millennials but they have MUCH different spending patterns and brick-and-mortar cutesy-fun-shops can't expect to live off of them going forward. It will be so interesting to see how walkable neighborhoods continue to shift towards a heavy presence of food and beverage. I'm not saying brick-and-mortar won't always have a place, but it will become more and more nuanced as rent continues to rise and profitability shrinks.

Also - I've been told that a national chain restaurant (think fast food) might be opening over here haha.

Thank you for the explanation and your efforts, I certainly appreciated them. I think as Bridge St matures with the recent and pending addition of apartments and those residents start to realize that they need things other than food and drink in their neighborhood, retail might have an opportunity. It will always be tough but hopefully it will get better as the neighborhood grows into its new-ish identity.

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Yeah, I wasn’t sure of the credibility of that rumor - I looked up the sale, too. That’s a lot of money and work to scrap a project.

Maybe since the concept isn’t a NP tap room specifically, there was confusion. Hope it goes up soon...that site needs something.

Just wanted to see if there was any truth in that.

The confusion might be coming from the fact that Jolly Pumpkin was going to go on that site by themselves, and that plan was scrapped for the bigger mixed use project. Depending on where you hear the rumor, the general public seems to be 2 or 3 steps/projects behind us UP-ers.

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I was told this morning the Denym will be moving over to Cherry Street in the former Richard App space. As I've noted before, we did a pop-up store with Books & Mortar on Bridge and during that time I spent a lot of time reflecting with the owner of Denym on the future of retail on Bridge, to which we both agreed that it wasn't looking good. As someone who owns a thriving business on Cherry I can say that this is an exciting announcement for us, but it makes us a little sad for Bridge Street. That said, across the board it all makes sense. We are THRILLED to add another thriving business to a budding retail district, AND as I've said, maybe Bridge is more of the next Ionia than anything else, and that is okay too.

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Wait... What happened to the Richard App Gallery?! Did he sell that building too?

Doh! I completely forgot to mention that this happened.

Yeah, he officially closed down back in late Feb. No mention on Facebook as to why. I'm thinking he just felt time to move on. He's been there for a long time, before 99% of the development you see there today.

I dont think it was for a lack of money as he seemed to be doing really well with renting the space out for receptions and parties, which will be sad to not walk by and see through the big windows in the evening.

I doubt he sold the building. He can make great money as a landlord with that location. Denym is definitely one of those cool stores that I see really doing something unique with this building. Their style and that space are made for each other.

Edited March 15, 2018 by GR_Urbanist

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Yeah, he officially closed down back in late Feb. No mention on Facebook as to why. I'm thinking he just felt time to move on. He's been there for a long time, before 99% of the development you see there today.

I dont think it was for a lack of money as he seemed to be doing really well with renting the space out for receptions and parties, which will be sad to not walk by and see through the big windows in the evening.

I doubt he sold the building. He can make great money as a landlord with that location. Denym is definitely one of those cool stores that I see really doing something unique with this building. Their style and that space are made for each other.

I don't think he owns it anymore. We briefly looked into it and it sounds like there is a new owner now .

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I wonder if they are working in conjunction with Rockford on this since they are all things West Side.

EDIT: I have answered my own question. Yes of course they will be working with Rockford. Mlive has the address listed as 501 Alabama Ave NW which is behind the 616 lofts on Alabama, and across the st from Rockfords headquarters in that parking lot.